


Anamnesis

by merelypassingtime



Category: Doctor Strange (2016)
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23486047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merelypassingtime/pseuds/merelypassingtime
Summary: Stephen had an unusually sharp memory, or so others told him.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21





	Anamnesis

**Author's Note:**

> anamnesis  
> (noun)  
> 1: a recalling to mind : REMINISCENCE  
> 2: a preliminary case history of a medical or psychiatric patient

Stephen had an unusually sharp memory, or so others told him.

The endless round of testing he’d been subjected to as a child had certainly said so, and innumerable school counselors had liked to mutter things like “eidetic”, “gifted”, and “fulfilling your potential”.

He remembered them all, what he didn’t remember was ever being good enough for them. No matter how hard he pushed himself or how much he learned, they always had more, they told him to do better and to really challenge himself.

He also never remembered being happy.

But every single time he’d gotten a question wrong or used a word incorrectly and looked like an idiot were burned into his brain, as clear and painful as they had been the moment they happened.

On bad days when he couldn’t make his mind focus they played over and over, a never ending loop of failure and disappointment.

On the really bad days the loop included every death, both those of his loved ones and, uniquely, those he’d suffered himself. 

Sometimes, when people said, “Wow, I wish I had your memory!” the whole loop would flash before his eyes before he could reply, “It has its ups and downs.”


End file.
